Applejack
'Story So Far' Pre-RP History (post-FiM) While the rest of the mane six moved on with their lives, Applejack stayed on the farm at Sweet Apple Acres, perfectly content to live out her life as she’d been doing since she was a filly. With the support of Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and an ailing Granny Smith, AJ rode out the years between FiM and SoundOf in peace and solitude, happily keeping her farm running and visiting with friends only when they stopped in. Captured by Changelings ' '''After Derpy Hooves destroyed an occupied changeling hive with an experimental cannon, their leader, Princess Instar, sought to capture a pony to torture information out of them. Applejack was unlucky enough to be wandering near the Everfree hives when the changeling drones went out looking, and was immediately beaten, gagged, and dragged down into the hive, only to be replaced by a changeling disguised as herself. That changeling, Mantis, went to Canterlot to pose as Applejack while she was subjected to interrogation. Given that she hadn’t left Ponyville, Applejack left Instar unsatisfied, and was jailed beneath the hive after days of torture. Presumably, Applejack was confined for at least two weeks before Mantis was uncovered and turned on Instar. The changeling rebel lead Willow Wisp and Gilda to the hive, where Gilda posed as a beaten prisoner while Willow caused a distraction to give the griffon time to break Applejack free. After gaining her freedom, Applejack went berserk, mowing down changelings with no concern for her safety. The unlikely group eventually made it out safely, though wounded, and headed back to Canterlot that night after dealing a crippling blow to Instar’s forces. Applejack remained in the palace for a night before going back home to Sweet Apple Acres to continue being a farmhand. '''Returning to Canterlot' ' '''Several months later, Applejack returned to Canterlot upon switching writers and hearing about the coming war with the griffons. Deciding to offer support to Celestia due to the coming winter, she loaded up a cart of apples for the soldiers and brought them to the palace, only to be apprehended by a CRF member posing as one of Luna’s guards. The intruder managed to smash the cart and had some choice words for AJ, which she promptly ignored before heading into the palace to visit Willow and Luna. With plans to visit the rest of the girls and then go home, Applejack remained in Canterlot for a week before all of her plans came to a screeching halt. '''Sweet Apple Acres Destroyed' ' '''Roughly a week after Applejack’s arrival in Canterlot, Big Macintosh came thundering up the road with news that Sweet Apple Acres had been burned down by the CRF. Granny Smith was killed in the fire, and all of the buildings and most of the trees were burnt to the ground. The news shook AJ to her core and left her broken, leading to a downward spiral into drinking, irrational anger, and eventually, suicidal thoughts. In her grief, she asked Fleur De’scord to train her to kill in order to enact justice upon the CRF, but quickly decided she shouldn’t rush into such things. With the help of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, she eventually came around and moved into an apartment with her brother, Apple Bloom, and her old friend Flare. At this point, Applejack attempted to join the military alongside her brother. She cut her mane and tail and gave Rainbow her hat to hold on to, but soon found the constant sexism from her fellow recruits and the slow, teamwork-based training schedule to be too slow. Revenge upon the CRF began to take top priority in her mind, and so she quit the military for more personal, one-on-one training with Dusk and Shining Armor. While this training began, she and Big Mac eventually decided to abandon the idea of rebuilding the farm, and pursue new lives of their own choosing. Shortly thereafter, she ran into Fleur once again, and began to revisit her previous idea… '''A New Direction' ' '''Applejack began training under Fleur De’scord soon after, with intent to become an assassin. Realizing that she needed a radical change in her life, she committed herself fully to the cause, and began a strict training schedule while avoiding contact with nearly everyone else bar Rainbow. As training continued and Applejack slowly began to embrace the new lifestyle, she and Fleur grew close and worked to become partners in vigilantism. Around this time, Applejack also decided to try to start getting over Rainbow, and began to explore the world of romance. A new friendship with Vibrant Hilt lead to her first kiss, which began to worry Applejack after she felt nothing beyond momentary pleasure. She moved on to an attempt with Fleur, only to meet the same results. In a moment of experimentation and wanting to find out if she could feel anything emotionally, she slept with Soarin, unaware of his relationship with Octavia at the time. Again, she got nothing out of it besides a little satisfaction, and decided to begin using her body more as a tool and form of expression than anything else, as Fleur suggested previously. '''Applejack the Assassin' ' '''While emotionally strung out and redoubling her focus on training, the time soon came for Applejack to commit fully to working as Fleur’s apprentice. She suggested that Fleur make her own creed and sisterhood, as Fleur was trying to break out of being controlled. Fleur ran with this idea, and took Applejack’s suggestion to call the new guild the ''Sisterhood of the Lotus. The two carved lotus flowers into the cups of their hooves using a knife, and so they vowed to act as secret enforcers on the streets of Canterlot, actively hunting CRF radicals and those breaking the law. The time soon came for Applejack to learn to kill, and Fleur set up a target for her: Jardin de Lis, her abusive father. Applejack agreed that he was worthy of being dealt with after hearing Fleur’s story, and swore only to kill those she considered to deserve it. After receiving light leather armor and a knife from Fleur, the two went down to the dungeons and had an argument with Jardin. With Fleur satisfied and wanting to test AJ, they dragged the stallion to the roof, and Applejack stabbed him in a fit of rage, taking his life. The experience affected Applejack badly, though she soon recovered and learned to block out the guilt and questioning. With one life under her belt, she took a few days to recover before making her next move. Personality SoundOf ''Applejack was once as she is in ''FiM ''canon, but the trauma of her farm being burnt to the ground and the loss of Granny Smith changed her. Applejack is not a leader, but rather a follower who prefers to have a given direction and set of goals each day. She will happily support a worthy cause, and prefers stability and structure- both of which were taken from her. Without a guiding light, Applejack fell into depression for nearly a month after the CRF attacked her farm. Though still struggling with her losses, Applejack has begun to get her happiness and outgoing nature back. Despite this, one key change has taken place- she has become emotionally locked down, to prevent herself from getting hurt. Her affections are focused solely on Rainbow Dash, with everyone else either a friend or kept at arm’s length. She views any sort of romantic encounter as simply lust and ‘something to do’, with no emotional attachment or reason to move further. Her work is once again her life, and her attitude has grown a bit colder to compliment the nature of her new job. As a final note- Applejack has always been confused about her sexuality, and therefore hid it from everyone around her. She had always been attracted to Rainbow Dash since they met, though she dared not say anything for fear of ruining their friendship. Additionally, the Apples were raised to be intolerant of any sort of ‘deviance’, and so she kept her mouth shut. With Granny Smith gone, Applejack has begun to explore, and is slowly figuring out who she is as a pony while trying to get over any sense of shame because of it. '''Important Relationships' Big Macintosh & Apple Bloom- Her family, who she is absolutely loyal to and protective of. Big Mac and AJ have a mutual understanding, and generally agree to a ‘live and let live’ sort of relationship. The two older siblings are very close and rely upon each other often, while watching after their younger sister. Applejack in particular pushes for Apple Bloom to follow her heart and leave the past behind, insisting that she be happy and follow her dreams rather than feel trapped into farming. Apple Bloom’s new independence affords Applejack time to work toward her new goal of being an assassin, while Big Mac remains suspicious and worried about his little sister. Rainbow Dash- Since their first meeting (following the story To New Heights), Applejack has had a passive crush on Rainbow that grew into something much more serious over time. The two became best friends and very close, keeping in contact even as the other friends in their inner circle drifted apart. In terms of her secret longing, AJ kept her mouth shut due to her family’s anti-homosexual stance and out of fear that she would ruin their relationship, and eventually grew to regret it as she lost her chance to Gilda. Applejack eventually confessed, much to Rainbow’s confusion, and their relationship became strained. Though they try to remain close, there is obvious tension and pressure between them, especially after Gilda began to get abusive. Fleur De’scord- Applejack sees herself as Fleur’s disciple, and her new compass. With her family matron gone, AJ has fully embraced the idea of looking up to Fleur, who she sees as someone worthy of being assisted in her cause. They share a casual friends-with-benefits relationship, in which Fleur has acted as a mentor. Applejack feels free around Fleur, and has offered total trust and a mutual sharing of secrets so that they might become effective partners in the field. So far as AJ is concerned, Fleur is quickly becoming another family member. Flare- AJ and Flare met in Manehattan, while she was still a filly. Flare was homeless at the time, and Applejack often brought him food from her aunt and uncle Orange’s house. The two became fast friends, and helped each other figure out what they wanted in life at the time. Flare encouraged her to go back home to Ponyville, and AJ encouraged him to go with the ex-guard who eventually took him in. The two fell out of contact for a while, but reunited in Canterlot, and now live together in a small apartment. Applejack did at one point try to shift her feelings for Rainbow onto Flare, but quickly gave up after hearing that he was happily in love with Luna. Soarin Skies- Applejack’s relationship with Soarin is an interesting one, and still developing. As her first romantic partner, Applejack feels a bit of a connection to him. However, given his cheating nature, she can’t help but feel a bit of resentment, which she is trying to let go of. What Applejack sees in him and how he feels about her remains to be seen, though she has forgiven him for their little tryst. Other Notes -Applejack was originally written by @PredatoryPixel (up until Returning to Canterlot), before she left the group. AJ is now written by @soundofsiren. -Applejack’s history with Rainbow Dash is based on To New Heights, a story which can be found here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7364872/1/To-New-Heights Gallery AJ2.png|Applejack's original icon AJ3.png|Applejack post mane/tail cut for her military career raj.png|AJ in her battle gear. Really. Completely serious.